June 23, 2020 by Sean Dickson and Timothy A. Lash As COVID-19 continues to ravage US communities, the costs in terms of lives and lost wages are severe, particularly among seniors and minority communities. Treating COVID-19 shouldn’t disproportionately add to these costs, but the history of drug pricing in the United States provides reason for concern. The… Read more »
June 8, 2020 Black Lives Matter. We are grieved and outraged by the brutal deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and others who have been hurt or killed by racist violence. The peaceful protests we are witnessing around the nation and in our own communities are righteous and needed to help bring about an… Read more »
May 19, 2020 This week the West Health family of organizations hit another major milestone! I’m very excited to announce that Civica Rx, the nonprofit generic drug manufacturer created in 2018 by seven leading health systems and three national foundations including the Gary and Mary West Foundation, is now part of a new and historic… Read more »
May 13, 2020 Abstract BACKGROUND COVID-19 has led to a dramatic increase in the use of telehealth services, particularly with older adults, who are at highest risk of potential infection and mortality. As a result, Emergency Departments (EDs) around the country are now leveraging telehealth as a key tool in a variety of settings for… Read more »
April 16, 2020 Sadie, a 76-year-old who lives alone and suffers from chronic renal stones suddenly developed acute flank pain resulting in four medical visits in one week. First to her primary care provider (PCP), second to the emergency department (ED), and a third visit to Urgent Care. Each time she was sent home and instructed… Read more »
April 1, 2020 Today, the California Department of Aging and the California Health and Human Services Agency announced the Stay Home, Save Lives, Check In Campaign. They’re encouraging people, like us, to take a few minutes out of each day to check-in with our older neighbors. Let’s make sure they feel connected and that they… Read more »
West Health applauds this week’s passage of legislation reauthorizing the Older Americans Act (OAA), which provides critical funding for programs and services that combat malnutrition, elder abuse and social isolation, support family caregivers and senior centers, and help older adults with transportation, legal issues and in-home and community-based care. The reauthorization of OAA is a… Read more »
by Katie Roper | March 24, 2020 Medicare just announced that it will − temporarily − reimburse for telehealth-provided services, opening an opportunity for seniors housing providers to provide residents with access to vital health services without exposing them to pathogens circulating at hospitals and clinics as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. A very… Read more »
March 18, 2020 BOX 1 PATIENT SCENARIO 1: The daughter of an 82-year-old community-dwelling, woman calls the ED nurse hotline regarding her mother. The patient has a past medical history of diabetes mellitus and multiple comorbid illnesses. During the past week the patient had a cough, runny nose, and a slight fever. No temperature has… Read more »
April 22, 2020 The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic is putting enormous and unprecedented strain on our entire population and placing new and significant pressures on our fragile system of healthcare and social services, and our once mighty economy. And while no one is immune from COVID-19, the data is clear that seniors and people with underlying chronic… Read more »
